During the 1930s, The Federal Writers' Project was going on. In this project was over 10,000 life stories of people in interviews. From some of these interviews, I had learned things about the people in that time and lessons from them as well. One of these lessons that I had learned was from the interview with Mr. Garavelli(His Interview), the lesson that he had taught me was that even if you do not make a lot of money in your job; the important thing is that your health is good. Another piece of information that is significant to me is the lesson that I had learned from Jim Cole's interview. (His Interview) The lesson that I had learned from his interview was that even if you were excellent in your job during this time, if you were Negro; then you could not get a better job or join the union as well, this is called discrimination. Another lesson that I had learned was from Mrs. Elizabeth E. Miller
(Grammy Miller). From this women's interview(Her Interview) I had learned that women were underestimated when it came to doing some things like Mrs. Miller's thing with the pork. Another lesson that I had learned was the interview with the Man at Colonial Park (No name was given). The lesson that I had learned from this guy was that even in a small way, there were some things that poor and rich people shared/have in common (Mystery Man's Interview). The last lesson that I had learned from these series of interviews was from Irving Fajans' interview(His Interview). From Fajans interview, I learned that if you wanted people to serve your cause( the Union at Macy's) then you have to have good communication between the people.
By Mike C.
During the 1930s there were more than 10,000 life stories recorded of men and women by the Federal Writers' Project. I learned a lot from reading the interviews. For example, some people's jobs are very dangerous. Chris Thorsten, (His interview) was an iron worker and said that you aren’t an iron worker unless you get hurt or killed. Another thing that I learned was that a man wanted to join a union for his job but they wouldn’t let him because he was black. (Jim Cole) That’s discrimination and the man was very hurt by it. A lady named Alice Caudle (Her interview) started working in the mills at the young age of ten years old. She said she needed to stand on a stool just to reach her work and she thinks she was born to work just to work in the mills. Overall, I learned a lot from reading those view interviews and how live was like back during the depression. I also learned that the people had to work extremely hard just to earn a little money.
By Becca R.
During the 1930s, there were many people in distress, with lousy, dangerous jobs. There was one interview with Chris Thorsten who worked as an iron worker (His interview). He starts off by saying, "You ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." This shows that jobs back in the day were quite dangerous. There was another man that was interviewed, named Mr. Garavelli, who was a stonecutter that had a problem with the dust in his workspace (His Interview). This was what he said about the dust, "It was tough for everybody in the early days. Lots of stonecutters die from the silica." People die from the large amount of dust that is produced in their workspace. Another man that was interviewed, named Jim cole, worked in a packing house where she would pack meat for hours (His Interview). The interviewer asked about where he worked in the packing house. He exclaims, "I'm working in the Beef Kill section. Butcher on the chain. Been in the place twenty years, I believe." This man has a steady job at this meat packing house, where he says that he went all over to get this job because nobody would hire an African American. Next, a man named Irving Fajans who was a department store employee, was interviewed (His Interview). He was asked about the unionization of the Macy's (the store's name) employees. He responded with, "When I first started there [at Macy's], they were just beginning to try to organize, and everything pertaining to the union had to be on the q.t. If you were caught distributing leaflets or other union literature around the job you were instantly fired." He tells you that you couldn't pass things around that were not work related. The last interview that I thought was interesting was with a man named Clyde "Kingfish" Smith, who was a street vendor (His Interview). He was asked about why he started to sing. He told the interviewer, "There was quite a few peddlers and somebody had to have something extra to attract the attention. So when I came around, I started making a rhyme, it was a hit right away." This was a tactic to sell more fish, kind of like why we advertise commercials on TV today. I have learned many things from these different interviews, and I learned how jobs were during the Great Depression.
By Nick S.
During the 1930s, The Federal Writers' Project was going on. In this project was over 10,000 life stories of people in interviews. From some of these interviews, I had learned things about the people in that time and lessons from them as well. One of these lessons that I had learned was from the interview with Mr. Garavelli(His Interview), the lesson that he had taught me was that even if you do not make a lot of money in your job; the important thing is that your health is good. Another piece of information that is significant to me is the lesson that I had learned from Jim Cole's interview. (His Interview) The lesson that I had learned from his interview was that even if you were excellent in your job during this time, if you were Negro; then you could not get a better job or join the union as well, this is called discrimination. Another lesson that I had learned was from Mrs. Elizabeth E. Miller
(Grammy Miller). From this women's interview(Her Interview) I had learned that women were underestimated when it came to doing some things like Mrs. Miller's thing with the pork. Another lesson that I had learned was the interview with the Man at Colonial Park (No name was given). The lesson that I had learned from this guy was that even in a small way, there were some things that poor and rich people shared/have in common (Mystery Man's Interview). The last lesson that I had learned from these series of interviews was from Irving Fajans' interview(His Interview). From Fajans interview, I learned that if you wanted people to serve your cause( the Union at Macy's) then you have to have good communication between the people.
By Mike C.
During the 1930s there were more than 10,000 life stories recorded of men and women by the Federal Writers' Project. I learned a lot from reading the interviews. For example, some people's jobs are very dangerous. Chris Thorsten, (His interview) was an iron worker and said that you aren’t an iron worker unless you get hurt or killed. Another thing that I learned was that a man wanted to join a union for his job but they wouldn’t let him because he was black. (Jim Cole) That’s discrimination and the man was very hurt by it. A lady named Alice Caudle (Her interview) started working in the mills at the young age of ten years old. She said she needed to stand on a stool just to reach her work and she thinks she was born to work just to work in the mills. Overall, I learned a lot from reading those view interviews and how live was like back during the depression. I also learned that the people had to work extremely hard just to earn a little money.
By Becca R.
During the 1930s, there were many people in distress, with lousy, dangerous jobs. There was one interview with Chris Thorsten who worked as an iron worker (His interview). He starts off by saying, "You ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." This shows that jobs back in the day were quite dangerous. There was another man that was interviewed, named Mr. Garavelli, who was a stonecutter that had a problem with the dust in his workspace (His Interview). This was what he said about the dust, "It was tough for everybody in the early days. Lots of stonecutters die from the silica." People die from the large amount of dust that is produced in their workspace. Another man that was interviewed, named Jim cole, worked in a packing house where she would pack meat for hours (His Interview). The interviewer asked about where he worked in the packing house. He exclaims, "I'm working in the Beef Kill section. Butcher on the chain. Been in the place twenty years, I believe." This man has a steady job at this meat packing house, where he says that he went all over to get this job because nobody would hire an African American. Next, a man named Irving Fajans who was a department store employee, was interviewed (His Interview). He was asked about the unionization of the Macy's (the store's name) employees. He responded with, "When I first started there [at Macy's], they were just beginning to try to organize, and everything pertaining to the union had to be on the q.t. If you were caught distributing leaflets or other union literature around the job you were instantly fired." He tells you that you couldn't pass things around that were not work related. The last interview that I thought was interesting was with a man named Clyde "Kingfish" Smith, who was a street vendor (His Interview). He was asked about why he started to sing. He told the interviewer, "There was quite a few peddlers and somebody had to have something extra to attract the attention. So when I came around, I started making a rhyme, it was a hit right away." This was a tactic to sell more fish, kind of like why we advertise commercials on TV today. I have learned many things from these different interviews, and I learned how jobs were during the Great Depression.
By Nick S.
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